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South Africa fight back to stay afloat
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Safin enters semifinal
Indian Airlines crash out
Selection camp
wound up
Women’s hockey meet put off
Chhattisgarh outplay Punjab in basketball
Spat between rival Malaysian bodies
India, Iran in kabaddi semis
India win world rly chess title
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South Africa fight back to stay afloat
Kanpur, November 20 Andrew Hall, opening the innings for the first time in his Test career, played the sheetanchor’s role to perfection with a gritty unbeaten knock of 78 and guided the visitors to a comfortable 230 for four in their first innings at close on the opening day. The right-handed Hall notched up his third Test half century as he batted right through the day on a good batting strip at the Green Park Stadium. Boeta Dipenaar was giving Hall company with a cautious 46 after Anil Kumble did the bulk of the damage to the South African innings by snapping up two wickets each in the pre- and post-lunch sessions. Kumble provided the vital breakthroughs by evicting captain Graeme Smith (37) and Matin van Jaarsveld (2) just before lunch and then dramatically removing dangerman Jacques Kallis (37) and Jacques Rudolph (0) off consecutive deliveries just before tea to put India in the saddle. But Hall and Dippenaar ensured that there were no further setbacks for the visitors as they defied the Indian spinners to remain unseparated in the last session, which turned out to be disappointing for the hosts. The pair stitched 76 runs for the unfinished fifth wicket partnership, which helped the visitors to bounce back into the game after being 154 for four at one stage. The South Africans began well on the much-speculated Green Park track, but the two blows by Kumble undid the good work done by the openers to some extent after electing to bat first. Smith and Hall provided a solid start to the innings as they played cautiously to the Indian new ball operators Zaheer Khan and Sourav Ganguly, who failed to obtain much purchase from the track. Smith was a trifle tentative in the initial stages of the innings, but grew in confidence to unleash a few attacking shots on both sides of the wicket. With the Indians opting to go into the match with three specialist spinners, Ganguly had to share the new ball with Zaheer but never really troubled the batmen but for one delivery when Smith’s inside edge whizzed past close to the stumps. Ganguly introduced Kumble as early as in the 10th over of the innings and the leg-spinner responded after the drinks break by getting rid of Smith. Smith played onto his stumps as he went for a forward defensive shot, much to the delight of the home crowd. His knock of 37 came off 66 balls and contained five boundaries. Martin van Jaarsveld, who joined action after Smith’s dismissal, survived for just 10 minutes as he fell leg before to Kumble. From a comfortable 61 for no loss, the visitors slumped to 69 for two as Kumble’s double strike brought India back into the game a few minutes before lunch. In the post-lunch session, Hall and Kallis rebuilt the innings with a 85-run third-wicket partnership. It was turning out to be a frustrating session for the home team as Hall and Kallis played watchfully and were building the platform for a big first innings total when Kumble did the star turn. Kumble snapped up two wickets off consecutive balls just at the stroke of tea to suppress the spirited South African fightback. The Karnataka bowler first removed Kallis by trapping him in front of the wicket as he went for a sweep and then Rudolph played onto his stumps, a dismissal similar to that of Smith. Hall and Kallis looked in no discomfort as they went about consolidating on a track which eased out completely in the post-lunch session. The Indian captain employed a double spin attack, with Murali Kartik beginning proceedings after lunch while Kumble bowled from the pavillion end. The two spinners could not make much of an impression, with the two batsmen executing sweep shots. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was brought in for another spell from the pavilion end in place of Kumble, but the Baroda speedster could not provide the breakthrough. The composed Hall slammed zaheer to the boundary to notch up his third half century in Test cricket, completing the milestone in 198 minutes. Kallis also achieved a personal milestone when he reached 33, becoming only the second South African to complete 6,000 Test runs after Gary Kirsten, who had aggregated 7,289 runs in 101 matches. Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings) Smith b Kumble 37 Hall batting 78 Van Jaarsveld lbw Kumble 2 Kallis lbw Kumble 37 Rudolph b Kumble 0 Dippenaar batting 46 Extras
(b-9, lb-4, nb-12, pen-5) 30 Total (for 4 wkts in 92 overs) 230 Fall of wickets:
1-61, 2-69, 3-154, 4-154. Bowling: Zaheer 15-5-36-0, Ganguly 4-0-21-0, Kumble 28-11-54-4, Harbhajan 23-5-52-0, Kartik 19-3-39-0, Tendulkar 3-0-10-0.
— PTI |
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John Wright defends three-spinner ploy
Kanpur, November 20 “Captain Sourav Ganguly felt that our strength are the spinners so we decided to go in with three. The formula had worked well in the Mumbai Test against Australia,” Wright told reporters after the first day’s play which saw the visitors make 230 for four. “We are not very unhappy as we got four wickets, but a couple of wickets in the last session would have been more satisfying,” the coach said. India’s ploy to go into the match with three spinners did not really seem to work as even though Anil Kumble snared four wickets, the other two slow bowlers — Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik — went wicketless despite bowling 42 overs between them. Wright praised the South Africans for the way they batted on the opening day. “I think the South Africans stood out. They showed a lot of determination and worked hard to find themselves in this position. The wicket was on the slower side and they did not take too many risks,” he said. Wright said it was imperative for India to get some early breakthroughs tomorrow. “We have to be patient since it is a slow wicket and the batsmen should get enough time to adjust their strokes. We have to try and take wickets.” On why Zaheer Khan was preferred ahead of Irfan Pathan, he said, “Zaheer can reverse swing the ball well. In the one-dayer against Pakistan in Kolkata, he was the better bowler, so we decided to pick him”. Asked whether the Indians were regretting not being able to win the toss, Wright said “Obviously, winning the toss is important. It is a question of luck and you have to accept it. To be honest we have not had much luck with the toss in recent times, but we are not worrying about these things.” On Indian fielding, Wright said the chances were quite tough though they should have been taken. Anil Kumble dropped Andrew Hall on 55 while Karthick was also guilty of spilling a chance of Smith on 33.
— PTI |
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Harbhajan to play for Surrey
London, November 20 The 24-year-old, who has played 39 Tests and 91 one-day internationals, replaces Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who has been plagued by knee problems. “This is great news for the club,” said Surrey manager Steve Rixon. “With Saqlain struggling to recover from two serious knee injuries, I felt we needed to strengthen our spin attack. Harbhajan took 21 wickets in India’s recent home Test series defeat by Australia. He made his Test debut in 1997 and has taken 172 wickets at an average of just under 28.
— Reuters |
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Clarke, Gilchrist toy with New Zealand attack
Brisbane, November 20 The visitors fell behind by 211 runs as Australia piled up 564 for nine on the third day after Clarke made a majestic 141 and Gilchrist 126. Clarke and Gilchrist shared in a 216-run sixth-wicket stand to swing the pendulum decisively back to the home side with two days to play. Clarke cracked his maiden century on his home Test debut with 141 off 200 balls, including 21 fours and a six, while number 7 Gilchrist claimed his 12th Test century with 126 off 151 balls, with 13 boundaries and four sixes. Tailenders Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath rubbed more salt into Kiwi wounds with a record unbroken 93-run 10th wicket partnership over almost two hours, that ramped up Australia's innings lead to beyond 200 runs, to have the New Zealanders with their backs against the wall to survive on a cracking pitch. McGrath played a fabulous cameo innings to claim his first Test half-century of 54 not out off 66 balls, surpassing his previous highest score of 39 against the West Indies in Trinidad in 1999. Fellow fast bowler Jason Gillespie was only five runs off his highest Test score at stumps on 43, with Australia batting on for 147 overs and occupying the crease for more than 10 hours. Clarke and Gilchrist wrought the damage and were dismissed six balls apart after eclipsing the previous best sixth-wicket stand of 197 by Allan Border and Greg Matthews against the Kiwis at the Gabba in 1985-86. New Zealand broke the prodigious partnership when Clarke advanced down the wicket and was bowled by left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori in the 107th over. Gilchrist followed in the next over when he pulled Chris Martin to deep mid-wicket, where Scott Styris took a fabulous catch. Gilchrist's 12th century in his 61st Test equalled the most hundreds scored by a wicket-keeper along with Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. Shane Warne was lbw to Vettori for 10 and Michael Kasprowicz holed out to Mills off Martin for five, but the exasperation just continued for the Kiwis, who still could not break the 10th-wicket partnership when stumps were drawn under cloudy skies. Scoreboard
New Zealand (1st innings) 353 Australia (1st innings) Langer lbw Vettori 34 Hayden lbw Mills 8 Ponting c Astle b Martin 51 Martyn c McMillan b Martin 70 Lehmann c McCullum b Vettori 8 Clarke b Vettori 141 Gilchrist c Styris b Martin 126 Warne lbw Vettori 10 Gillespie batting 43 Kasprowicz c Mills b Martin 5 McGrath batting 54 Extras:
(b-1, lb-5, w-1, nb-7) 14 Total: (for 9 wkts, 147 overs) 564 Fall of wkts:
1-16, 2-85, 3-109, 4-128, 5-222, 6-438, 7-450, 8-464, 9-471 Bowling:
Martin 36-7-141-4, Mills 26-8-99-1, Oram 22-2-108-0, Styris 8-1-33-0, Vettori 50-9-154-4, McMillan 5-1-23-0.
— AFP |
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Safin enters semifinal
Houston, November 20 Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Safin, all 24 or under, all current or past world number ones and all with grand slam titles to their credit, will take the court today. It will be the first time that the top four seeds have qualified for the semi-finals at the season finale since 1990. World number one and defending champion Federer will face Safin while hometown favourite Roddick takes on a fired-up Hewitt. Hewitt booked his spot in the last four earlier in the day with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of French Open champion Gaston Gaudio, who had already been eliminated. Roddick completed round-robin play unbeaten, blasting his way past unbeaten, blasting his way past Guillermo Coria 7-6, 6-3 and entered the tennis record books. Roddick used the match as a tune-up for his semi-final showdown and topped the 1,000-aces mark in the process.
— Reuters |
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Indian Airlines crash out
New Delhi, November 20 On a day when four quarterfinalists were spotted, South Central Railway (SCR) brightened their chances of making it to the last eight as they pipped Afghan Club, Bahawalpur, Pakistan, 4-3 in pool III. Apart from Indian Oil, others who qualified for the quarters are Border Security Force (BSF), defending champion Punjab Police and Air India. Punjab Police trounced Karnataka XI 5-1 to top the three-team pool I with six points. In a totally one-sided encounter, Punjab Police outplayed their rivals and led 4-0 at half time. Jugraj Singh, who has started playing after recovering from serious injuries suffered in a car accident last year, cornered the limelight as he scored off a penalty for Punjab Police. Punjab Police scored two goals in 20 minutes through Daljit scored his second and the team's third goal in the 24th minute and then Jugraj struck in the 30th minute converting the sixth penalty corner. Karnataka reduced the margin in the 51st minute when Ronald Kiran scored off a penalty corner but a minute later Olympian Gagan Ajit completed the rout scoring the fifth goal. Punjab Police earned eight penalty corners and converted three, while their rivals got three, all in the second session and converted one.
— UNI |
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Amritsar: The nine-day state-level Punjab Women's Hockey Association (PWHA) camp to select the state team for the Senior National Women's Hockey Championship came to an abrupt end here today. The camp started at the Guru Nanak Dev University Astro-turf on November 13. Coach Amarjit Kaur said on Friday evening she received directions from the PWHA that the camp must be wound up as the national championship, which was to be played from November 25 to December 4 at Bangalore, had been postponed. Another coach, Balbir Singh, a former international player, said they were to select the team on Saturday. However, with the postponement of the championship, the camp had been terminated. Earlier, 27 players were scheduled to participate in the camp. But seven players did not turn up. — OSR
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Women’s hockey meet put off
New Delhi, November 20 |
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Amarinder releases logo of
Indo-Pak Punjab Games
New Delhi, November 20 The Chief Minister said the games would go a long way in strengthening ties between people of the two countries. The logo has two Olympic rings in the national colours of the two countries while the mascot for the games is Shera, a colourful lion that depicts strength. Capt Amarinder Singh said about 750 players from the two Punjabs would take part in 12 disciplines — hockey, athletics, tug of war, cycling, shooting, kabaddi, wrestling, badminton, basketball, volleyball, handball and polo. The games would be held at the Raja Bhalendra Singh Sports Complex, National Institute of Sports (NIS) complex, Punjabi University and other venues in Patiala while shooting and hockey events will be held at Mohali and Jalandhar. The Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan), Pervaiz Elahi, will inaugurate the games on December 5 at YPS Stadium, Patiala. According to the memorandum of understanding signed between the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), these games will be held annually and will rotate alternatively between the two Punjabs. Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on December 11. Capt Amarinder Singh said cultural programmes involving renowned Punjabi artistes Jagjit Singh and Farida Khanam would also be held during the games. He said Rs 20 crore would be spent on organising the games, including the money spent on improving infrastructure. Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Sports and Youth Affairs), said a special camp had been organised to boost training of the state’s players for the games. Mr Sodhi, also the working chairman of the organising committee, said all arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of the games. Mr Randhir Singh, Member, International Olympic Committee, and state Finance Minister Surinder Singla were also present. |
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Chhattisgarh outplay Punjab in basketball
Ludhiana, November 20 Anju Lakra and Bharti Nath netted 17 and 16 baskets, respectively, for Chhattisgarh while international Kamaljit Kaur (12) and Aashna (9) tried to salvage some prestige for the hosts. In the match for the hardline cup, Madhya Pradesh beat Chandigarh 69-54. In swimming, West Bengal accumulated 34 points to emerge champions. Andhra Pradesh finished runner-up with 28 points while Tamil Nadu secured 18 points to earn the third spot. In 100m freestyle, Meenakshi Thomas of Delhi emerges victorious. Parjaktha Khangan of Maharashtra and Santana Patra of West Bengal secured second and third positions respectively. Sumi Burabohain of Assam bagged the gold in 200m individual medley. MS Divya of Andhra Pradesh secured the second spot while the third position went to N Arthi of Tamil Nadu. In 100m backstroke, Amreen Malik of Andhra Pradesh took the gold while the silver and bronze medals were bagged by VM Abinaya of Tamil Nadu and Gurbinder Kaur of Punjab, respectively. Balbir Singh, veteran of three consecutive Olympics (1948, 1952 and 1956) was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. He gave away prizes to the position holders. Earlier, Punjab gymnasts gave a sterling performance to garner 160.75 points to emerge the overall champions. West Bengal secured 148 points to finish runners-up while Andhra Pradesh eves accumulated 144.35 points and had to be content with the third spot. The fourth position was bagged by Tripura who got 139.05 points. In the individual allround best gymnast event, Punjab annexed all the three positions. Punjab gymnasts namely Rohika (33.15 points), Monika (32.95 points) and Sukhbir Kaur (32.85 points) made a clean sweep clinching the first three positions. |
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Spat between rival Malaysian bodies
New Delhi, November 20 The association said the organisers were cheating the Indian public by bringing in a group of non-kabaddi players and threatened legal action for undermining the good name of Malaysia and breach of international etiquette and sporting norms. “Under no circumstances have we endorsed or entered a team from Malaysia to participate in the World Cup kabaddi,” association secretary S. T. Arasu said. MUMBAI: The Malaysian Kabaddi Federation on Saturday rubbished accusations that the team participating in the World Cup kabaddi tournament here was made up of non-kabaddi players and said the team had been invited by the Asian body to take part in the event. Association president Sundaresan Ramanathan Chetliar claimed that it had recognition from the Asian Kabaddi Federation, headed by India’s Janardhan Singh Gehlot, also the president of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. “We have got a letter from the Asian Kabaddi Federation, granting recognition to our body,” he said.
— PTI |
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India, Iran in kabaddi semis
Mumbai, November 20 Hosts India overwhelmed the West Indies 60-42, after leading 36-23 at half-time in the morning, before dishing out a similar thrashing to Canada by beating the North American rivals 51-14 (half-time 31-7) in their concluding Group A match in the evening. The architect of India’s win over Canada was all-round player Manpreet Singh who was later adjudged man-of-the-match. Others to catch the eye in the home team’s facile win which fetched them four bonus points were Shailesh Sawant (6 points), captain Sanjeeva Kumar (5) and B.C. Suresh (5). India dominated the proceedings from the beginning and were leading 46-10 at one stage in the second half. Yesterday, the hosts began with a thumping 50-29 verdict over Thailand. Vikas was the hero of the home team’s win over the West Indies in the morning. He excelled both in defence and attack and was always a threat to his rivals. He notched up seven useful points after India took a 15-5 lead in the early part of the match. Iran were also impressive while rolling over Bangladesh, their main rivals in Group C, 53-40 (half-time) 34-19) in the deciding clash. The West Asians completely outplayed Germany 96-19 in the morning after having commenced their campaign impressively with a one-sided 65-24 scoreline against Nepal last evening.
— PTI |
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India win world rly chess title
New Delhi, November 20 The seven-member Indian team won all seven rounds by defeating Slovakia, Chorvatsko, France, Poland, Bulgaria and Nemecko in the championship that had contestants from 22 countries, according to a press statement issued here today. Bulgaria followed with the silver and Germany with the bronze in the four-yearly event. Other participating nations included England, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Holland and Slovakia.
— PTI |
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Rest of World lead Schumacher best Meet concludes Khalsai Games  |
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